Wick's Words of Wisdom

Late last night, we received a series of comments from one of our readers, Jay Wick, regarding the Board Meeting held at Madison School.  To use his words, he "buried" his comments in a post we published in July 2013.  We have decided to "unbury" Mr. Wick's comments and publish them as a free standing post, after receiving several requests to do so from other readers.  He has written regularly to the blog and while we have not always agreed with his comments, they are thoughtful and provide food for thought.  His comments raise some very important points, most which probably will not be understood by some of the D181 board members, Turek in particular, who may be running for re-election next Spring.  The title is ours, the words are his.

As always, we welcome your comments and the time you take in writing them.

The Bloggers.

Mr. Wick's Comments:

"I thought it might be fun to "bury" a little summary of tonight's BOE back among those posts from when page view of this blog were literally 1/100th of what they are today.

The reason I doing so is two fold: firstly to remind people that try to dismiss the effectiveness of this medium that there is in fact quite a bit of interest in how our district is run, AND point out the fact that too often the relatively empty / quite meeting of the BOE do not mean that "all is well".

Yes, when the place is teaming with angry parents the "squeaky wheel" method of political decision making is often effective but sadly when the BOE does not articulate a clear vision and just stumbles along the same path of least resistance such directionless can be equated with the same unprincipled "leaders" that have placed Illinois dead last in categories like business climate or atop the list of most heinously mis-funded public employee pensions ...

Tonight was the legally important date for the district to make their first effort at a levy. The business manager laid out a mostly clear picture of the process (something that arguably is not necessary, as at this point in time all the BOE members have been through at least one full cycle of such budgetary information...). The BOE's titular head extended a very "Heckuva job, Brownie" type thanks and there was not a whole lot of dissent or questioning. That is troubling on several levels -- Firstly there are those that would like to see the whole of the budgeting process laid out on a "zero based budget". They would not be happy to just see everything rolled over from last year. Secondly there are those of us that recognize that under Illinois system of CAPPED PROPERTY TAX any budget that does not address the actual percentage increases for important categories like salaries (which constitute about 85% of the district's expenditures) have a high probability of seriously short-changing all the other important areas that the district funds should be spent on.

The sad fact is that there were NO other parents or community members that questioned anything! Honestly I would have been happier to see some honest-to-goodness tax slasher type out in the open rather than find out too late that they managed to sneak past those should have exposed such scoundrel in the vetting process.

Let me reiterate where I stand on a few things. I've talked to enough community members who understand taxes to be one of those things that you have to be savvy about it -- a valuable home will likely carry a hefty bill. Uncle Sam helps you out quite a bit by allowing those property taxes to reduce one's income tax liability to a considerable degree, but it still ain't a free ride. My elderly mom well knows this, as do my many retired neighbors that choose to remain in their homes and "age in place". I certainly know it too. Folks that are dishonest or hypocritical about such things will find me tearing their baseless arguments to shreds. That said, those of us who have devoted considerable time to truly understanding how taxes work in this state are often most acutely aware of when the public is NOT getting good value for their expenditures. When we've had the opportunity to convince government units to find cost savings we have done so vociferously. THAT remains a primary reason why I devote time to this!

The basic idea of "accountability" for me has to start with finances and fiscally-sound policies but also must encompass the whole picture of what it means to be an elected official of a public body that approaches their role with a clear set of ethics. The blog here has ample evidence that such has not been the case with some on the BOE -- they have used their knowledge of how districts respond to Freedom of Information Act requests to attempt to further their own business interests. They have benefited monetarily from their involvement with the BOE. They have not fulfilled all the legal obligations to serve as stewards of the public purse. They have not clearly stated where they stand on any controversy. By keeping their views too close-to-the-vest they demonstrated to strong a desire too remain in office and too weak a commitment to stand for public scrutiny...

I would also like to point that I so dislike the policy of "non-transparency" in terms of anonymous postings allowed by those that run this blog that I attempted to launch an effort to unmask this practice. Sadly there were more folks that argued for it and some even claim to be teachers in the district that fear reprisal; given the rather open witch hunts that our high school BOE has engaged in that is not an idle concern. I have said before that I have had my own "blogger IDs longer than this site has existed (I have suspended all content from my blogs...) and use that alias mostly as it provides some "plausible deniability" for my kids that would otherwise risk having my views confused with theirs as we share first & last legal name...

I have no doubt that I may often come across as overly sure of my own conclusions. I don't know to really respond to this other than show that in nearly every "controversial topic" that I have attacked the BOE for I have shown that there is legitimate disagreement among the whole of the eductional community. The honest researchers that analyze studies about anything like classroom size or pedagogical approached to reading or math generally go out of their way to present their data and allow other access to every aspect of the study. The best will come right out and say things like the data that disproved their hypothesis forced to reevaluate previous approaches or design more thorough test to understand the discrepancy. I try to show the same kind of approach, it is not just for sake of "balance" but because I really believe there is a great deal of uncertainty in what is truly "best" for any child. I similarly would expect our district staff to try to convey some of these "shades of grey" when they offer recommendations for the district.

Joyful Learning? Are You Kidding? -- Part 2: D181 Parents, Don't Let Yourselves be "Whitewashed."

Buried at the end of Dr. White's five page report to the BOE for Monday's (11/10/14) meeting, we are concerned about references to four upcoming Community and District Events featuring Dr. Paula Kluth.  Right before Thanksgiving break, she will be presenting on "Joyful Learning" (11/17,18), after which there will be two "Joyful Learning Follow-Up Discussions" (11/20, 21).   These presentations obviously relate to Dr. Kluth's book "Joyful Learning: Active and Collaborative Learning in Inclusive Classrooms" which is described on her website as:

"Offering all students opportunities for successful learning experiences, this is ideal for K–12 inclusive classrooms and learners with a wide range of abilities, including cultural or linguistic differences. The authors present techniques for using differentiation, active learning, and personalized instruction that enable teachers to use sound teaching practices and engage students in discussion, debate, creative thinking, questioning, teamwork, and collaborative learning." (Source: http://www.paulakluth.com/books-and-products/)

Dr. Kluth has presented across the country on the ideas of inclusion, including at "The 2012 Inclusion Institute."  The power point she presented at that institute described her as: 

"a renowned autism and inclusion expert.  Her keynote interactive session will re-ignite that joy in learning that brought us all to this profession." (Source:  http://www4.esc13.net/uploads/cc/docs/meeting/05032012/jg_Inclusion_Institute_for_CC.pptx)

After all the connections between Dr. Schneider and other social justice and inclusive classroom advocates we identified in our 11/1/14 post "Bubblemania," we bloggers thought we would do a little investigating into Dr. Kluth's association with D181 and her previous professional contacts. 

Sure enough, she is a colleague of Kurt Schneider's and has worked in D181 in the past couple of years doing professional development for teachers while embarking on Schneider's crusade for full inclusion within all of our classrooms. Both Schneider and Dr. Kluth have been presenters at the same social justice institutes and inclusion conferences.  The links we provide throughout this post establish Dr. Kluth's connections to Schneider, and clearly show that he has a professional relationship with her that began before he was hired by D181 and extends beyond our district. 

In fact, we believe we have found a smoking gun link that, in our opinion, establishes unequivocally that it was Schneider who introduced D181 to the social justice and inclusion ideologies that underlie the Learning for All Plan.  In our opinion, any suggestion by Dr. White or Schneider, that the Advanced Learning Plan/aka Learning for All Plan/aka Joyful Learning was Dr. Schuster's brainchild and that Dr. Schneider was simply following her orders, does not withstand scrutiny.

If you click on the following link,  you will see the following Facebook post dated April 5, 2012:

https://www.facebook.com/paulakluth/posts/425289967487238

We draw your attention not just to the blog link Dr. Kluth posted on her Facebook page, www.paulakluth.com, which is her blog dedicated to "promoting inclusive schooling," but more importantly to the last comment (4/6/12) on the Facebook post, which Dr. Kluth wrote:

"We all need to share this video clip with our school boards to help them to see what is possible in a school leader. The clip for today also has Kurt Schneider on it and he is another strong administrator with BIG VISION." 

(Source: https://www.facebook.com/paulakluth/posts/425289967487238)

We located the 4/6/12 clip she mentioned, along with a YouTube video featuring Schneider presenting on the concept of inclusive classrooms:

A NEW SERIES: Joyful Learning? Are You Kidding? -- Part 1: The Teaser

Today we begin a new series called "Joyful Learning? Are You Kidding?" This series will cover some additional information that Dr. White has shared with us about upcoming events.  As we prepare Part 2, we begin with Part 1:  "A Teaser."

The video speaks for itself. Please watch it to the end.  We believe it will set the mood for our next post.

http://nicktoons.nick.com/videos/clip/happy-happy-joy-joy.html

No To Late Start -- A Community Non-Negotiable

This morning we received the following comment and then a second one asking us to publish it as a free standing post.  We have obliged because we are outraged by Dr. White's suggestion in his Superintendent's Report for Monday's BOE meeting (11/10/14 at Madison School - 7 pm) that Late Starts be reconsidered for D181.  Click link to open Dr. White's Report.  More to follow later on other issues we have flagged in Dr. White's report.

Anonymous said...

Hey: note to White and Schneider: late start/ early release is one of this community's non negotiables!!! How dare you bring it up in your boe report. There was a petition signed by a 1000 parents and a survey - the answer was a resounding no. But I guess neither of you care about parents or the fact that we just "resolved " this with the teacher contract.

Simple solution: get rid of learning for all! Problem solved! And no substitute teacher shortgage to boot. It shouldn't be this hard.

Also data is not an after thought. Your boe meeting agenda is pathetic! No isat analysis, no 5essential survey ( Monroe Madison teachers were scathing), no math plan, no school improvement plan, no science isats.

White: I no longer support you. You have let us down. You and Schneider can leave together. And take Benaitis with you.

Boe: get your act together and do something 

 

Educational Malpractice? No Data Analysis Provided by D181 Administration on ISAT Results

Where is the ISAT report, Dr White? How about a breakdown of data? 

We find it appalling that there is no mention of an ISAT report on the upcoming agenda for the next board meeting at Madison School, on Monday, November 10 at 7pm.

District test results are not acceptable. Learning for All is not working. 
Dr White, Dr Schneider: What are you doing about it? 

Bubblemania!

What do the following 12 bubble charts all have in common? Burst that bubble and maybe D181 will stand a chance of righting its sinking curriculum ship.

Truth -- A Shared Post

We wanted to share the following post that appears on a neighboring district's blog.  We think it is quite relevant to our district.  We are pretty sure you will all know who this applies to......

http://pleasantdaleschool.blogspot.com/2014/09/truth.html

Hot off the Press: 2014 Illinois School Report Cards Have Been Released, Along with School Rankings

Just like last year, at midnight, the 2014 Illinois School Report Cards and the official rankings were finally released for everyone to see.

http://breakingnews.suntimes.com/education/2014-school-report-cards-database/

http://breakingnews.suntimes.com/education/chicago-dominates-top-of-state-list-with-elite-schools-with-a-catch/

The Top 50 Schools were ranked for each category:  Elementary, Middle and High School.

D86 High School our students will attend:  Last year, Hinsdale Central High School ranked 4th in the entire state.  This year, it dropped 2 spots to rank 6th.  

The top 5 high schools were 1. Payton College Prep (Chicago, ranked #1 in 2013), Northside College Preparatory (Chicago, ranked #2 in 2013), Young Magnet H.S. (Chicago, ranked #3 in 2013), Jones College Prep H.S. (Chicago, ranked #5 in 2013) and New Trier (Winnetka, ranked #6 in 2013).  We were glad to see that while HCHS dropped slightly, it is still in the top 6 high schools in the state.

D181 School Rankings:  Before we review the rankings, we want to remind you of some of the statements Superintendent White made in the letter he sent to D181 parents on Thursday, October 30. He stated:  "It is important to note that the ISAT cut scores were raised from 2013 to 2014 to prepare students, staff, families and schools for the more rigorous Common Core Standards.  The assessment also included questions designed to better align to the new standards.  We must therefore be cautious in drawing conclusions when making year-to-year comparisons in ISAT results.  The new cut scores do not mean that our students know less than they did before or are less capable than they were in previous years.  Instead, it means that the state expects a higher level of procedural and conceptual knowledge be demonstrated to meet and/or exceed grade level standards."

Since all Illinois students were judged using the same cut-scores as D181 students, we were curious to see of our schools would rank the same or higher than they did last year, and how our schools performed in relation to  schools that performed worse than ours last year. The results were very troubling for most of our schools.

Middle Schools:

The news was not good for Hinsdale Middle School (HMS) or Clarendon Hills Middle School (CHMS).  After dropping in the rankings from 2012 to 2013, they both had a precipitous drop in rankings in 2014. In 2013 both schools ranked in the top 50, but both dropped out of that tier in 2014.

Hinsdale Middle School dropped from from 27th to 63rd in the state (after dropping from 22nd in 2012). 

CHMS dropped from 32nd to 74th in the state,  (after dropping from 26th in 2012). 

Butler Middle School in Oak Brook, the district D181 most often compares itself to -- and is a feeder school into Hinsdale Central -- also dropped in the ranking from 15th in the state in 2013 to 57th in the state in 2014.

While Butler also dropped in the rankings, as with last year, a divide still exists between the performance of students at Butler and those in D181's middle schools. This is troubling since our students must compete with Butler students at Hinsdale Central and the scores continue to show that Butler students enter high school better prepared than D181 students.  

More concerning, however, was the fact that while our two middle schools plummeted in the rankings, those in the Top 20 were either stable or included schools that had tremendous increase in their rankings, despite the new cut-scores that Dr. White referenced in his letter.  

We looked at what schools ranked in the Top 20, to see if there has been much movement up or down by schools since last year. Seven of the schools that ranked in the Top 10 last year, remained in the Top 10.   Nine of the schools that ranked in the Top 20 last year, remained in the Top 20.  But eleven of the schools in this years Top 20 were not on last year's Top 20 list.  In fact, some of the 2014 top middle schools were not even ranked in the Top 100 last year.  Somehow, despite the new cut-scores, and more rigorous questions asked on the ISAT test in anticipation of next year's PARRC assessment, these schools excelled. 

So what happened to D181's middle schools?  Parents should demand an explanation from Dr. White and Dr. Schneider.

Top 50 Illinois Middle   Schools

2014 Rank	School	Location	2013 Rank	2012 Rank	Percentile

1	Keller Elem Gifted Magnet School	Chicago	3	3	96.1
2	Edison Elem Regional Gifted Cntr	Chicago	2	1	93.9
3	Lenart Elem Regional Gifted Ctr	Chicago	3	4	90.9
4	Skinner Elem School	Chicago	7	7	89.3
5	Iles Elem School	Springfield	6	6	88.9
6	Lincoln Elem School	Chicago	12	10	87.6
7	Hawthorne Elem Scholastic Academy	Chicago	8	9	87.2
8	Bell Elem School	Chicago	11	13	84.8
9	Edgebrook Elem School	Chicago	35	42	84.5
10	Young Magnet High School	Chicago	1	2	83.5
11	Coonley Elem School	Chicago	137	337	82.7
12	The Joseph Sears School	Kenilworth	22	18	82.5
13	Lisbon Grade School	Newark	41	67	82.3
14	Bartelso Elem School	Bartelso	42	36	79.5
15	Fairview South Elementary School	Skokie	173	189	79.2
16	Blaine Elem School	Chicago	36	45	78.2
17	Jackson A Elem Language Acad	Chicago	23	35	77.4
18	Hollis Consolidated Grade Sch	Peoria	260	185	76.5
19	Rondout Elem School	Lake Forest	179	118	76.1
20	Jefferson Elem School	Metropolis	182	177	75.7

(Source:  http://breakingnews.suntimes.com/education/chicago-dominates-top-of-state-list-with-elite-schools-with-a-catch/)

Elementary Schools:

Breaking News: Two Communications from Dr. White.

In the interest of transparency, below we are publishing two communications that Superintendent White emailed to D181 parents this afternoon.  The first is a letter informing parents that the math pilot Investigations WILL BE DISCONTINUED.

The second communication informs parents that the Illinois State Report Cards, with the D181 ISAT district wide scores, will be available tomorrow.  Of concern in the latter communications is a clear attempt, in our opinion, to prepare the parents for bad news and try to minimize it as just one data point.  Let's not forget last year's dismal results which we reported on last year at 10/31/13 post and 11/2/13 post.

So stay tuned until tomorrow's release of the information.

Communication #1 from Dr. White on Math Pilots:

October 30, 2014
Dear D181 Families,
As shared in a memo to you on October 24, we are seeking a math resource that provides a strong foundation in fluency, conceptual understanding, procedural knowledge, and application, while also providing an instructional base that is grounded in the Eight Mathematical Practices. In addition, the chosen resource must provide tools for teachers to differentiate based on the needs of students, provide rigor in both instruction and homework, and allow teachers to follow our implementation of the Common Core standards. Since the start of the year, we have been piloting four different material sets to identify the best resource to meet those needs - Math in Focus (K-5), Investigations (K-5), Big Ideas (6-8) and Agile Mind (6-8).

It is important to remember that materials are one component of providing a challenging and engaging math education. We are guided first by the Common Core standards. The standards define what students should know and be able to do at the end of each grade level. As an individual district, we create the curriculum that describes what students need to learn to meet those standards. We then look at the delivery of instruction and the resources that serve as our tools.

During the October 27 Board meeting, we discussed the math pilot with our Board of Education members and heard from a number of parents during Public Comment. We appreciated the opportunity to discuss this important topic and listen to our community members. The Department of Learning led the conversation around what we have learned from the pilot so far and the next steps as we move forward. Below is a summary of our key decisions to date:
• The HMS staff, Math Committee and administration have determined that Agile Mind will not be a strong primary resource for our District at this time. The Board supported our plan to work with the HMS teachers in shifting from Agile Mind back to their previous resource (Glencoe or McDougal-Littell) for the remainder of the year. The teachers are already working to find a natural place to conclude in Agile Mind; that pilot will be finished for all HMS classes by the end of next week. The teachers will still have access to the Agile Mind resources as needed for supplemental instruction. During the November 4 Institute Day, the HMS staff will review the content that has and has not been covered to create a smooth transition for their students and ensure they meet their learning targets this school year. For HMS families with specific questions about your child’s instruction, please contact your child’s teacher or Mr. Peña.
• The pilot of Investigations at Elm and Madison has resulted in conflicting views. While some teachers and parents have expressed concern and a desire to stop the pilot of this resource, we have also heard positive feedback from teachers and parents. We therefore felt it was important to bring the teachers together as soon as possible to continue the conversation around their reflections on the materials. The Department of Learning thus met with teachers on Tuesday and Wednesday to discuss Investigations. Based on their input and that of parents who have shared their views, we have determined that Investigations will not be a strong primary resource at this time. Like the HMS staff members who piloted Agile Mind, we will be working with the Madison and Elm School teachers in shifting back to their previous resource (Everyday Math with Common Core supplements) for the remainder of the year. The teachers will be working to find a natural place to conclude in Investigations; they will still have access to the Investigations resources as needed for supplemental instruction. During the November 4 Institute Day, the Madison and Elm staff will review the content that has and has not been covered to create a smooth transition for their students and ensure they, too, meet their learning targets this school year. For Madison and Elm School families with specific questions about your child’s instruction, please contact your child’s teacher or principal.
• We are planning to continue the pilots of Math in Focus (Monroe, Prospect, Oak) and Big Ideas (CHMS). We are also still planning to survey participating students, staff and parents at the conclusion of these resource pilots prior to making any material recommendations to the Board in January. It is important to note that continuing only these two pilots does not guarantee their selection. After reviewing the data that is available at the end of the pilot, it is possible our recommendation may be to choose one resource, both resources, or neither.
• We recognize a need for continued and increased communication around this topic and several of the key components in the Learning for All Plan.
o We need to more clearly outline the philosophy and vision that have guided our decisions.
o We need to create common, District-wide definitions for terms such as “differentiation” and
“flexible grouping” that are being used in our conversations.
o We need to explain the academic path for math instruction in the District in a way that is simplified
but specific.
o We need to identify the practices that should be consistent across schools and the areas in which
teachers should have latitude to make the decisions that they know as professionals will be best for
their students.
o We need to generate new ideas for increasing staff collaboration time.
o We need to continue professional development as staff work hard to implement new practices
aligned to the New Illinois State Standards.

Though we are discontinuing two of the four pilot materials, we are hearing very positive feedback from many teachers about the way their math instruction has already been transformed. Focusing on  Practices, embracing the balance of procedural and conceptual knowledge called for in the Common Core standards, and looking at math in a new way has been a challenging and exciting effort for our team of educators. We look forward to continued professional development in these areas.

Please watch for additional communication coming to you on these topics. While we don’t want to overwhelm families with too many messages, we believe increased outreach is needed over the coming weeks. We invite you to continue visiting our website for further information: www.d181.org > Learning > Math Pilot. Lastly, please be sure to refer to the body of the email that came with this message, alerting you to the October 31 release of State Report Card data from our students’ participation in the March 2014 ISAT and our participation in the Illinois 5Essentials Survey.

Thank you for your continued partnership.

Sincerely,

Don White, Ph.D.



Communication #2 from Dr. White on Illinois School Report Cards:

Dear District 181 Families and Staff,

Attached to this memo is an important update regarding the Math Pilot, including news on a change in materials at both the elementary and middle school level. You can find our recent memos and further information about this topic on our website: www.d181.org > Learning > Math Pilot.

In other news, we want to alert you to tomorrow’s public release of State Report Cards, which include the results from the March 2014 Illinois Standards Achievement Test (ISAT). We will be posting our reports on the District website tomorrow: www.d181.org > Learning > Assessment > State Report Cards. You will be able to find our reports and the reports from all Illinois public schools online at www.illinoisreportcard.com. On that site and on our District website, you can also find the results from our teacher and middle school student participation in the 2014 Illinois 5Essentials Survey. Three of our schools (Elm, Madison, and Walker) had a high enough parent participation rate to generate a report on the parent data, as well. Though the state is not releasing that data as part of the Report Card, we have chosen to make that data available to the public on our website tomorrow, too (along with the teacher and student data): www.d181.org > Resources > IL 5Essentials Survey.

While the State Report Card is a helpful snapshot of a school and district, it is important to remember that we cannot look at one test score when assessing student achievement and growth. Rather, we must triangulate the data with other assessments, in-class work, and teacher feedback so that we have the complete story when considering how we can most effectively meet students’ academic needs. We must further consider students’ enjoyment and engagement in their educational experience. The school rankings released each year by some local media create comparisons based on select ISAT data, but they do not take into account these other critical factors.

For District 181, we include comprehensive data review as a critical component in the continuous improvement cycle. As we receive new information that can help guide our teaching, we also work to identify practices that are working well in our schools and share them across the District. We additionally hold ourselves accountable for areas needing improvement and identify practices that may not be working. That is the work our Department of Learning, School Leadership Teams, and teaching staff engage in throughout the year. 

It is important to note that the ISAT cut scores were raised from 2013 to 2014 to prepare students, staff, families and schools for the more rigorous Common Core standards. The assessment itself also included questions designed to better align to the new standards. We must therefore be cautious in drawing conclusions when making year-to-year comparisons in ISAT results. The new cut scores do not mean that our students know less than they did before or are less capable than they were in previous years. Instead, it means that the state expects a higher level of procedural and conceptual knowledge be demonstrated to meet and/or exceed grade level standards.

Lastly, we remind families that March 2014 was the last administration of the ISAT. During this 2014-15 school year, students in Grades 3-8 and high school students will take the PARCC assessment in English language arts and math. PARCC is aligned to the new standards and will be given online twice per year. It is designed to focus on growth over time in addition to achievement. After this school year, results of the PARCC exam will be represented independently from ISAT data on future Report Cards, with a brand new baseline for 2015. You can learn more about PARCC on our website: www.d181.org > Learning > Assessment.

No matter what changes are made to our state standards and assessment, our goal remains the same – to be a school district where all children experience success and grow in excellence.

Sincerely,
Don